Belfast (Ireland) Belfast (Ireland), Aug 10.: Captain Andrew Balbirnie snapped Ireland’s eight-match losing streak in T20I after he beat Afghanistan with seven wickets in the first of five T20Is played at Belfast with only one ball left. Chasing 169, Lorcan Tucker and Balbirnie (51) hit half-centuries that were quickfire prior to Harry Tector (25 not out off 15 balls) and George Dockrell (10 not out off five balls) took Ireland over the line.
In choosing to bat first following the toss opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit three boundaries to move the opposition.
Gurbaz was slain in the following over however, he was unable to block the ball off a Barry McCarthy delivery to Harry Tector at mid-off, leaving for 26.
Usman Ghani and Hashmatullah Shahidi resisted this defeat for the sake of keeping the scoreboard going and forming the partnership that saw them take Afghanistan to 75-1 with nine overs.However, Dockrell dismissed Shahidi after he put a delivery on top in the direction of Paul Stirling at short fine leg for 11.
Ghani reached his fourth T20I half-century, pushing Afghanistan to surpass 100.But spin also brought an additional breakthrough for Ireland as Gareth Delany struck with the final ball of the 14th over with Najibullah Zadran slicing the leg-spinner , leaving McBrine at the backward end.
This triggered a slide for Afghanistan’s middle order , as the team lost four wickets in the space of just two overs, leaving the hosts with a score of 134-6 after just 17 overs.McCarthy was able to take out Rashid Khan in the penultimate over for two.However, Mark Adair took some punishment from Ibrahim Zadran in the final over of the innings, giving up 16 runs over three deliveries in the 21-run over.Afghanistan ended the match 168-7.
As a result, Balbirnie looked in fine control from the beginning and swivel-pulling Fazalhaq Farooqi off the final ball of the third over to take 19 off only 10.Paul Stirling, playing in his 300th T20 was on guard to start with and securing Naveen-ul-Haq’s debut in the powerplay.But he eventually got his feet back and smashed Azmatullah as well as Naveen for sixes while Ireland took off to fifty in six overs.
Stirling was eventually dismissed with 31 runs to Mohammad Nabi, but Ireland continued to be in the lead as Tucker and Balbirnie continued to speed along, with the latter reaching his half-century in 34 balls at the close of 14th over.Balbirnie then played Mujeeb Ur Rahman directly towards Najibullah in the deep, allowing him to take him out for 51.Then, some more overs were followed, leaving Ireland with 41 required in the final four overs.
Tucker reached the half century mark in just 31 balls, however Naveen took care of him at the close of the 18th over which left Ireland in grave trouble.
Tector after a slow start and slowed down, he blasted a quick six over mid-wicket deep off Farooqi in the final over, leaving the score at 13 runs after the end of the over.A boundary by Tector reduced the pressure and Dockrell hit consecutive boundaries to secure the victory with a thrilling win for Ireland.
Brief Scores: Afghanistan 168-7 in 20 overs (Usman Ghani 59, Ibrahim Zadran 29 not out; Barry McCarthy 3-24, George Dockrell 2-7) lost to Ireland 171-3 in 19.5 overs (Andrew Balbirnie 51; Lorcan Tucker 50; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 1-22) by seven wickets
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